Shel Israel

Shel Israel, Author & Social Media Guru

Shel Israel, Author & Social Media Guru

Show Appearance Info:

Shel Israel was a guest on our July 7th, 2009 show “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: Welcome to Twitterville and the New Business Paradigm,” and our September 10th, 2009 show “Can Twitter Make Money and Other Questions Regarding Social Media Revenue Models.”

Personal Bio:

Shel Israel writes, speaks, advises, and tweets on social media.  He is author of Naked Conversations – how blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers (Wiley, 2006), [with Robert Scoble; The Conversational Corporation, a Dow Jones eBook], and Twitterville, how businesses can thrive in Global Neighborhoods (Portfolio, Sept. 2009).

A senior fellow in the Society for New Media Research (SNMR), a member of the Board of Advisors for the Social Media Club, and Smartbrief on Social Media, Israel’s grasp and practical understanding of social media’s role in 21st Century business in and of itself defines and shapes the very medium about which he writes.

His GlobalNeighborhoods.net, blog is according to Ad Age among the 50 most popular business blogs.  He also contributed to Businessweek.com.

Latest Book:

Twitterville Book Cover

Twitter is the most rapidly adopted communication tool in history, going from zero to ten million users in just over two years. On Twitter, word can spread faster than wildfire. Companies no longer have the option of ignoring the conversation.

Unlike other hot social media spaces, Twitterville is dominated by professionals, not students. And despite its size, it still feels like a small town. Twitter allows people to interact much the way they do face-to-face, honestly and authentically. One minute, you’re com- plaining about the weather with local friends, the next, you’re talking shop with a colleague based halfway across the globe.

No matter where you’re from or what you do for a living, you will find conversations on Twitter that are valuable. Despite the millions of people joining the site, you’ll quickly find the ones who can make a difference to you.

Social media writer Shel Israel shares revealing stories of Twitterville residents, from CEOs to the student who became the first to report the devastation of the Szechuan earthquake; from visionaries trying to raise money for a cause to citizen journalists who outshine traditional media companies.

Israel introduces you to trailblazers such as:

  • Frank Eliason, who used Twitter to reverse Comcast’s blemished customer service reputation
  • Bill Fergus, who was on the team at Henry Ford Medical Center during the first “live tweeted” surgery
  • Scott Monty, social media officer for Ford, who held off a mob of misinformed Ranger fans and averted a PR crisis
  • Connie Reece, who used Twitter to raise tens of thousands of dollars for cancer patients in need
  • The Coffee Groundz, a Houston-area coffee shop that uses Twitter to pack the tables (and fight off Starbucks)

Twitterville features many true stories as dramatic as these. But it also recounts those of ordinary businesspeople who use Twitter to get closer to their customers. And it explains how global neighborhoods will make geography increasingly irrelevant.
It even explains why people sometimes really do care what you had for lunch.

Note: move your cursor over the book jacket and select to order your advanced copy of Twitterville and save 32%.

Media Bites:

Shel Israel – Speaking at TWTrcon ‘09